Broken Glass
by Bomb-diggity-dog
Summary: Lance knew driving like this was risky. He never expected to fall through.


To be honest, Lance was tired. Too tired to be be driving, probably. Who thought it was a good idea to put Lance in retail? The pay was minimal, everyone thought he was too chatty, and the customers were rude. Today in particular was awful. Practically running on empty, he could barely keep his eyes open.

"Lance? Lance, are you even listening to me?"

Lance blinked, bringing himself back into reality. His boyfriend was on the phone, listing what Lance was supposed to by from the drugstore. "Yeah, yeah, I read you," Lance said.

"Then you got all that?" Keith asked.

"Well, no, but-" he paused, then yawned loudly. "Actually, I don't know if I'm up for a run to the store today. I kind of just want to go home."

There was silence on the other end for a moment, followed by some shuffling. "Lance, I'm sorry but we're out of cold medicine and Pidge is still sick. We really should-" Lance yawned again, and had to slow down his driving to avoid crashing into a lampost. When he regained his composure, Keith was quiet.

"Keith?"

"Are you okay?"

"A bit tired, but fine. Is it okay if I just come straight home today?"

Keith sighed. Lance could practically see him rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Lance, I'm really sorry, but we need to get this out of the way. Please?"

"Yeah, fine." Lance cut off the call before Keith could say anything else. Of course he couldn't get a break tonight- stupid medicine. Stupid Keith. "You better start feeling better, Pidge," he muttered, pulling into the drugstore parking lot.

The medicine was easy enough to find. He must've looked drunk, if the looks the cashier was giving him were anything to go by. He thanked her before trudging back to his car. As he turned it on, he saw the clock read 12:36 AM. Geez, how was Lance still even awake? At this rate, when he finally slept, he wouldn't wake up for weeks.

Lance's heart skipped a beat when his phone rang without warning. The clock read 12:42 AM- he had really been out of it. Without checking the caller, Lance picked it up.

"Mmhhmm?"

"What took you so long?" Ah, the wonderful tones of his lover, Keith.

"Just took a while to find, it's fine," Lance lied, pulling out of his space.

"Alright. Hunk just woke up with a cold and Shiro's coming down with mysterious symptoms, so better get that medicine here quick."

"I'm working on it, okay?" Lance snapped.

"Jeez, okay. No need to get all pissed," said Keith.

Lance's movements were jerky as he angrily maneuvered through the lot and started to pull out. "Look, I'm tired, okay? Sorry I snapped. Just- take care of others."

"Yeah, okay, just get the medicine home."

"Like I said, I'm- I- I-"

Screeching tires. Had he pulled out too early? Where was that coming from?

"Lance?!"

So much happened at once then. He saw little details first- the car that was ramming into him head-on, the panicked look in the driver's eyes. How the hood crumpled, the glass shattered, how Lance was being choked by his seatbelt. Then everything came crashing down at once- the hood was producing a sickening crunch, the glass was shredding through him, the airbag was deploying, and somewhere someone was screaming. He watched it all with wide eyes until his head hit the steering wheel hard. Then Lance blacked out.

"Lance? Lance!" Keith screamed into his phone. "Oh my god, say something!"

"Keith, what happened?" Pidge stumbled blearily into the room, Hunk and Shiro close behind. "Is everyone okay?"

Keith was struggling into shoes, already halfway out the door without a coat. "I- I don't know! Lance was on the phone and then there was this horrible noise and he's not answering anymore and I think he crashed and I have no idea where he is-"

"Keith," Shiro put a hand on his shoulder, concern evident in his eyes. "You said he went to the drugstore to pick up medicine, right? Start there."

Keith inhaled deeply, then nodded. He sprinted to his car, the others close behind. No second was wasted as they peeled out and away.

"The drugstore is right up here, second exit." Pidge sounded unnervingly calm. Keith didn't comment, following her directions silently.

"H-hello?"

Keith jumped at the crackling voice coming from his phone. He'd forgotten that he never hung up. Shiro frantically grabbed the phone and put it on speaker. "Lance! Lance, are you there?"

"I'm sorry," the voice whimpered. "I'm so sorry."

"What happened?" Shiro's voice was laced with worry as they neared the store.

"His phone was on the street. - I- I don't know what happened, we were crashing head-on- I swear, I'm sorry!"

In the back, Hunk sobbed. Pidge was staring at the phone with an unreadable expression. Shiro was looking unreasonably pale.

Keith's grip tightened on the steering wheel, and his heart started racing. "How is he?"

"He's- oh god, he's unconscious- there's a lot of blood- I don't know!"

"What do you mean you don't-"

"Oh my god," Pidge breathed.

In front of them was the wreckage. Lance's car was smashed into another. Broken glass decorated the pavement. Beside the mas was a trembling man, holding a phone- Lance's phone.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god…" Keith ripped off his seat belt and threw the car door open, sprinting to the wreckage. There he saw Lance- and his heart stopped.

Lance was slumped forward, his head on the steering wheel. He was bleeding from several places- a gash on his forehead, plus a multitude of cuts littering his body. He lay unmoving.

Keith fell to his knees, his hand over his mouth. Nothing mattered- not Shiro, not Hunk, not Pidge. Nothing but Lance- his Lance- lying lifelessly in the destruction that surrounded him.

What had he done?

No matter how many times they explained it to him, Keith didn't listen.

He'd followed the ambulance numbly to the hospital. He couldn't remember if the others had gone home or if they've never went with him to the hospital in the first place. He wasn't sure what hospital he was at, or what floor they were on. He couldn't remember what medical terms the doctors had thrown at him. What did they matter, anyway? They weren't going to fix that Lance had gotten hurt because of him.

So here he was, his head in his hands beside Lance's hospital bed. Band-aids were scattered across what skin was visible, and a bandage was wrapped around his forehead where the wound was. Bruises littered his body. Besides that, he looked surprisingly peaceful for having just been in a car accident.

Keith sighed. It felt like he hadn't slept in years. He had no idea what time it was- a glance out the window showed that it was still dark, but nothing more. By the time dawn light filtered into the room, Keith had nodded off in the bedside chair.

"-eith?"

"Mmm?" Keith replied blearily.

"Keith, my man?"

He shot up. "Lance!"

His boyfriend was sitting up in the hospital bed. To be completely honest, he looked horrible. Yet Keith had never been happier to see him. Keith rushed to his side, where he embraced him in a tight hug.

"Ow, ow, ribs," Lance winced.

"Sorry, sorry." Keith said. He loosened his grip, but kept Lance in a hug. "Are you okay?"

"Hate to break it to you Keith," Lance said. "But I'm in a hospital right now."

"Shut up, Lance." He grinned at him. "But seriously…"

Lance shrugged. "Fine, I guess. A little banged up. Hey, did you ever get that medicine back?"

Keith blinked. "You're worried about-"

"Just let me have this."

Keith shook his head, smiling. "Okay, the medicine. No, I didn't get it."

Lance punched Keith in the arm, earning himself several protests. "Keith, I spent like, five bucks on that! You are definitely buying the next one."

"Yeah, yeah," Keith said. "I'm just glad you're okay."

Lance hummed in agreement. "Love you, mullet."

"Love you too."


End file.
